The real Paid In Full story is captured in these classic Jay-Z lines:
‘I never prayed to God/
I prayed to Gotti/
That’s right its wicked/
That’s life I live it/
Ain’t asking for forgiveness for my sins…’
(Jay-Z: ‘D’Evils’: Reasonable Doubt: 1996)
The real Paid In Full story is based on 1980s drug Culture marked a shift in Harlem.
Before the events shown in the Paid In Full Movie, Harlem had been a Haven for former Slaves from the South, leading to a cultural explosion in the form of the Harlem Renaissance.
However, things changed paving the way for the Paid In Full Crack era as the Hustler era dawned with the rise of Bumpy Johnson, Pee Wee Kirkland, Nicky Barnes and Frank Lucas amongst others.
With the imprisonment and death of the first wave of Hustlers like Nicky Barnes, the ‘Crack Era’ soon arrived. This transition paved the way for younger Hustlers like ‘AZ’, ‘Alpo’ and ‘Rich Porter’ leading to true events shown in the movie Paid In Full.
Paid In Full: The Harlem Crack Era
The real Paid In Full story of how Az, Alpo and Rich Porter, 3 young men barely in their 20s became Millionaires and ‘Role Models’ in their community is a tragedy of the times.
In the end, it resulted in Alpo killing Rich Porter, AZ almost losing his life during a robbery by another disgruntled dealer, and with Alpo doing major Prison time whilst allegedly ‘snitching’ to get time shaved off his sentence.
In addition, Rich Porter’s younger brother Donnel, an innocent Pre-Adolescent Boy was murdered for ransom by his own Uncle, who out of jealousy, wanted a share of Rich Porter’s ‘Cake’.
After surviving being shot at point-blank range, AZ chose to leave the game, and he’s become a remorseful Street Elder, authoring books and making music about his experience in a bid to steer the youth away from the toxic culture of drug dealing.
After all was said and done the real Paid In Full story is a modern cautionary tale.
For more info on the real Pain In Full story, check out this classic FEDS Magazine Interview Alpo did in Prison as well as AZ’s FEDS Magazine Audio Phone Interview.
The real Paid In Full Story continues to fascinate Hip Hop culture, and since then other Players of the 80s era like Kevin Chiles have come out to offer their views on the real Paid In Full story including allegations made by Kevin Chiles that AZ acted as a Police Informant in a case against him.
Alpo has also since been released from Prison and his influence on the Culture due to his reputation in the 80s continues to be felt.
Despite the tragedy of the real Paid In Full Story, Rich Porter’s legend continues to live on with a lot of modern Rapper’s quoting his name in their lyrics.
Check out the Game Over Documentary below for the street accout of the real Paid In Full Story.
Game Over: The True Story To Paid In Full
